Glossary

Courier business glossary

The terms used every day inside a courier and package forwarding agency on the Miami–Latin America corridor, defined in one line and without filler. Every term has its own link: you can cite or share it directly.

Virtual mailbox: A U.S. address assigned to a customer with a unique number, letting them shop at U.S. stores and receive packages at a courier agency’s warehouse for international forwarding. Read more →
Mailbox number: The unique identifier an agency assigns to each customer (for example VE-2380), carried in the address line of their purchases. It is what makes an incoming box traceable to its owner.
Pre-alert: A notice the customer files before their package reaches the warehouse, with the tracking number, contents description and declared value, so the system recognizes the box on arrival.
Tracking number: The code identifying a shipment with the origin carrier. On the Miami–Latin America corridor it is what matches a customer purchase to the physical box arriving at the warehouse.
Public tracking: Checking shipment status without signing in, usually with the bill or tracking number. It cuts down repetitive questions to the agency.
Scan-based receiving: Logging a package at the warehouse by reading its barcode, so the system automatically matches it to the right pre-alert and mailbox.
Consolidation: Grouping several packages belonging to the same customer into a single shipment, so they pay one freight charge instead of one per purchase.
Master manifest: The document covering a full shipment to a destination, containing the consolidations and individual packages inside it. Moving its status cascades to everything it carries.
Actual weight: The physical weight of a package on the scale, normally expressed in pounds (lb) or kilograms (kg).
Dimensional weight: The theoretical weight representing the space a package occupies, calculated as length × width × height divided by a dimensional divisor. It stops bulky, light freight from being billed below its real transport cost. Read more →
Dimensional divisor: The constant converting a package’s volume into billable weight. The common ones are 139 and 166 with inches, and 5000 and 6000 with centimeters. Read more →
Billable weight: The greater of actual weight and dimensional weight. It is the weight the per-pound or per-kilo rate is applied to.
Minimum billable weight: A floor below which the agency still charges a fixed amount (for example, a 1 lb minimum), covering the handling cost of very small packages.
Rate per pound: What the agency charges per pound of billable weight to a given destination and service mode. It is the central commercial variable of the business.
Air cargo: Shipping by plane: faster and more expensive per unit of weight, typical for mailbox parcels and goods with high value per kilo.
Ocean cargo: Shipping by sea: slower and cheaper per unit of volume, typical for household moves, appliances and bulky goods.
Last mile: The final leg of a shipment, from the destination warehouse to the customer’s door. Usually subcontracted to a local operator and a heavy share of total cost.
Destination warehouse: The warehouse in the arrival country where shipments are unloaded before local distribution or customer pickup.
Receiving point: A package drop-off location separate from the main warehouse, letting an agency serve customers in other cities without opening a full operation there.
Declared value: The value the customer states for the goods. It is used for customs documentation and as the basis for insurance where it exists.
White label: A model where the software carries the agency’s brand — logo, colors and domain — so the end customer never sees the technology provider.
PWA (installable app): A web app the customer installs on their phone straight from the browser, with its own icon and push notifications, without going through app stores.
Push notifications: Alerts delivered to the customer’s device when their shipment changes status, without them opening the app or messaging the agency.
Multi-currency: The ability to invoice and collect in the destination country’s currency, using the exchange rate each agency configures.
Customer base import: Bulk-loading an existing customer base — usually from a spreadsheet — when starting on a new system, so records are not retyped one by one. Read more →

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